Traditionally liquid distillation systems, such as those used in desalination, ground water remediation or liquid recycling plants, have high energy requirements which can account for between 50% and 70% of the total operating costs of such a plant. These high operating costs can make such plants prohibitively expensive and impractical, particularly for applications in developing countries and in locations without a reliable energy supply.
In addition, known methods of liquid treatment such as reverse osmosis, utilising activated carbon filtration and optionally ultra-violet or ozone exposure, typically do not have the capacity for efficient treatment of heavily contaminated liquids such as sea water or brackish water and usually require pre-treatment such as pre-filtration and/or chemical treatment. Such known treatment methods produce waters which have total dissolved solid (TDS) concentrations of 500 to 1000 ppm which can result in treated water with odor and/or unpleasant aftertaste and is too saline to use for agricultural irrigation. Additionally, filtration can lead to operational problems such as filter clogging and the need for sterilization of the filtration apparatus on a regular basis to prevent build-up of mold, algae and bacteria contaminants.
A further disadvantage with known liquid treatment systems is the lack of portability to a site and scalability on site in situations where increased capacity is required quickly such as in emergency relief situations.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description which is given by way of example only.